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It’s been a crazy last 36 hours and the insanity continues for the rest of this week. I am loving the constant NCTE updates from those attending and can not wait to go to Philly for the convention next year! Right now I am exhausted but just want to share some news I have gathered from the blogosphere today:

-Franki shares the news of a new Georgia Heard poetry book! I need this yesterday! Georgia Heard is one of my mentor writers and I can not wait to get my hands on this one.

Recently, we finished reading Tuck Everlasting and my students took their novel test. As a class, we read three whole class novels each year, which are novels that my students wouldn’t normally read on their own. The novels are treated as more formal read-alouds, with mini-lessons tied to each reading. My students take quizzes in preparation for middle and high school and they respond to their reading. They also complete a novel test so that they are prepared for standardized testing, middle school language arts, and high school English classes.

This year, on the novel test for Tuck Everlasting I added a new essay question. The question asked the students to state in an essay whether they felt that Tuck Everlasting should have received a Newbery Medal when it was published. We have only briefly touched on the Newbery in class (they know of my quest to read the Newbery each year before it is chosen) and I was hesitant to ask them a question that required so much higher level thinking on their first novel test this year. Well, I was thrilled when I read over their answers last week! My students not only showed me that they were able to use the strategies we were learning in writing workshop but also that they can articulate their thoughts about books and reading!

Some of my favorite quotes from a few of the essays:

“I think Tuck Everlasting should have won a Newbery Award because it was outstanding. To me outstanding means great, entertaining, what a book should be.”

“Also because it shows that you have to make a lot of hard decisions to make a good life for yourself.”

“My first reason that Tuck Everlasting should get a Newbery Award was that the book treats children like an adult. This book makes children make decisions. Should Winnie drink from the spring? From being a child I know that kids like to be treated like and adult instead of being babied.”

How awesome are those answers? My students gave deep thought to their reasoning and with no prompting were able to write me well-thought out essay. I am so proud of them!

Twice a year, Chasing Ray organizes the Blog Blast Tours. I LOVE the tours, because I get to read interviews with a variety of authors for an entire week! And the best part? Most of the bloggers conduct multiple interviews, and most of the authors who participate are interviewed more than once. I always learn so much about the authors, their writing process, their books, and random factoids from their life.

This year’s Winter Blog Blast Tour begins tomorrow. Here is the full schedule: